Friends

"My friends are the beings through whom God loves me."  Sant Martin

The German root for friendship is "place of high safety".  Do we have enough "places of high safety" in our lives?  In the isolation of caregiving, I have not tended friendships as much as sometimes in my life.  I do have treasured friendships, and some are within my family -- but I need to guard against too much isolation.  To be a place of high safety - for me - means someone to whom I can tell anything and not be judged and someone who I know what I tell will remain in confidence.  Each of us has a different coping style, and mine seems to be to withdraw from interaction -- to re-gather my strength on my own with a few friends.  Perhaps you are a person who draws strength from many people.  Neither is right or wrong; it is just the way we cope.  But, no matter our coping style, we each need some people to love us enough to be with us through the good times and the bad, and it is lovely to think of them as the beings through whom God loves us.